Project Description

Sub Branch History

1976 – a group of ex-service men started to gather each ANZAC DAY for a Dawn Service outside the Bowls Club in the front garden. The memorial was then located in the grounds. An oily rag used to be lit for the flame and invariably used to go out before the service was over. The group gradually built up and the gatherings increased to fill the garden and then the footpath and then onto the roadway.

From this group came the impetus to form a Sub-Branch in the Bay. The inaugural meeting was held in the CWA Hall on Thursday 6th June 1983. The meeting was chaired by a Mr F.G. Ferguson and the attendance book was signed by 38 including the then SED President and Secretary.

Over several years the Sub-Branch raised funds for the relocation of the War Memorial to its present site. The annual Dawn Service for Anzac Day has continued and our service now attracts a crowd of 3000 and involves all the schools in the area. We are also conducting commemorative services for Vietnam Veterans Day and Remembrance Day.

In October 2007, RSL Qld. Branch State Council meeting approved our application to fund the building of 4 Community Retirement Units on the land and we gratefully acknowledge and appreciate this funding. It took all of 2008 to get our development application through the local Council and the building of these units commenced in January 2009.

The units were completed in August 2009 and our first tenant moved in towards the end of August. The RSL badge was attached in September. The complex was officially opened by the then State Deputy President Terry Meehan on the 21st November 2009.

Council approval of stage 2 of this project allowed us to build a storage/office facility on site. The slab for this was poured during construction of the units. Our application for some funding through Jupiter’s Casino Community Fund to complete it was unsuccessful and we were then successful with an application for some funding through the District by way of a grant and a loan on the 5th November 2009.

The Sub-Branch has and continues to provide services for our members – we have qualified Pension and Welfare Officers and they assist when needed. We visit ill members in hospital and at home. We keep the members informed of vital information through a monthly newsletter. Our membership is increasing in age and with that comes the inevitable slowdown in life style.

In March 2015 the Sub-Branch was granted a License to Occupy the old CWA Hall which RSL Qld. Branch purchased in 2014 and refurbished in 2015. This has given the Sub-Branch the opportunity to offer services to its members. A level 3 Advocate works from the office there and over time a book and DVD lending library will be established. It has also given the opportunity for some community involvement by hiring the hall for meetings etc.

Information for Members

General meetings monthly on the 2nd Saturday at 1400hrs (Feb through to Dec).